with her masters in august, and that's not enough. nope. not for amy. she's going to start work on her second masters degree in social work. that's next year, and her goal is to help develop programs in a residential center for people living with disabilities. go, amy, go. you are my hero. thanks, everyone for watching. newsroom international with suzanne malveaux starts now. welcome to "newsroom international." i'm suzanne malveaux. we're taking you aron the world in 6 on minutes. today in cairo the most violent street fighting since the election of egypt's mohammed morsi. the army called in the tanks when the protesters got close to the presidential palace. soldiers and armored vehicles shut down a demonstration by both supporters and opponents of the president. they left behind piles of rubble, burning cars, month sense of stability as a major nationwide vote gets one day

closer. president morsi said a few hours ago he is going to address the egyptian people. he has not yet, but when that happens, we're going to bring that to you live. nerve agents locked and loaded ready to be used against a syrian people. now, that scenario now a reality. that is according to nbc news. now, it says that syria's military has loaded the component chemicals for the deadly nerve gas into aerial bombs that could be dropped from their fighter jets. i want to bring in paula gorani about this because you have a different take on this. i know there's a lot of breath held. you say that they're not necessarily on that path. >> i believe that there's analysis that is very critical that the assad regime is not getting ready to use chemical weapons in syria, and here's why. because the question we're asking is how real is the threat? not just for syrians, but for the region, because once you start using chemical weapons, loaded in warheads, you are looking at death tolls in the

thousands, possibly in the tens of thousands also threatening neighboring countries. syria is geographically very central in the region. now, here are some of the reasons why syria and the assad regime might not be considering the use of chemical weapons. first, the two masters of the assad regime. iran and russia are against it. the regime of bashir aul awes youred would be taking huge risks if it started threatening the syrian population and surrounding countries with these types of weapons. also, there's a military reason why it would not necessarily make sense for bashir al assad to use chemical weapons. this, by the way, is the kind of analysis i've seen as well in other publications. chemical weapons would be difficult to deploy against a guerrilla force. why? because they fade away when confronted. you have their mixed population as well. when you aim a warhead loaded with chemical weapons at a population, who are you really targeting? it could kill even your own

supporters. we have these two main reasons. >> why do you suppose we have other countries -- germany says it's going to send in soldiers to neighboring turkey. why do you suppose there is such anxiety and such fear around that country and the possibility that that could happen? >> well, within the context of what turkey asked nato for, the patriot missile defense system, you have nato member countries who are now essentially saying through their partly i wants, yes, we are going to help you militarily defend yourself. the big question, however, is are other countries bringing up the possible threat of chemical weapons coming from syria as a way of laying the ground work for another kind of not intervention, but a assistance to rebel groups. you have a lot of strategic talk that's being publicly sort of expressed out there that could be laying the ground work for strategic help for rebel groups. also for russia and iran and china and other countries that support the assad regime to perhaps distance themselves a

little bit from the syrian president. we have all those reasons that are coming -- that are like the pieces of the puzzle. you make it out. is the threat of chemical weapons being used against the syrians an imminent threat? you have a lot of opinions out there that that's not the case right now. >> good balanced approach. we like that. a lot of people just kind of beating the drums here. want to get the other side as well. thank you, paula. seran is the onlying nerve gas we've been talking about so far in sear yashgs but they -- >> military analysts believe that syria may have one of the most extensive chemical weapons stockpiles in the world spread through production and storage facilities throughout the country. this, they say, is a result of an aggressive development program started in the 1980s, aided by the russians and the iranians, and has been cause for concern before. not only because the government

there might use it, but also because many of these weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists. precisely what are we talking about? first of all, mustard gas. this is an old chemical weapon. it was used in world war i. it doesn't act very quickly, but it's extremely painful. it burns the skin. it can burn the eyes, and when inhaled, it burns the lungs. it can be fatal, but more often is t simply renders an opponent unable to fight anymore, and it can create chronic health problems, like respiratory illness and blindness for the remainder of life for some of the people who are exposed to it. beyond that, let's look at some of the other ideas here. sarin gas is one of the concerns out there. sarin gas attacks the nervous system, and in even small amounts it can cause uncontrolled trembling, then convulsions, then unconsciousness and death. beyond that, there's even concern that they might have vx gas. some scientists consider this one of the most dangerous chemicals on the planet.

it was originally developed as a pesticide, but spread in a liquid form, only a few drops on your arm or your hands would simply produce very quickly the same results of sarin gas, meaning a collapse of your nervous system and death to follow soon thereafter. the simple truth is, too, all of these weapons could quickly be delivered almost anywhere that they wanted to. the simple truth is you could hook it on to the top of a scud missile or any type of rocket and fire it over a great distance or put it into an artillery shell and fire it that way. if that is done, then it could poison fields out there for days or even weeks for anyone who walks through. government there says they have no designs on doing any of this, but the possibility, the possibility, is what has many analysts worried. >> syria's embattled president might be looking for a way out now. several countries in the middle east and latin america have offered to grant asylum to

president bashir al awssad. brian todd has the details. >> reporter: his army is on the ropes. he may number the process of readying chemical weapons. right now everything about syrian president bashir al assad smacks of desperation. now the u.s. state department is looking into reports that he is looking into the possibility of seeking asylum for himself, his family, and their inner circle in latin america. >> we do understand that some countries, both in the region and elsewhere, have offered to host assad and his family should he choose to leave syria. >> syria's deputy foreign minister was recently in venezuela delivering a message from bashir al assad. the minister was also, according to israel's newspaper, in cuba and in ecuador bringing classified letters from assad to leaders there. we couldn't get responses from syrian representatives in the u.s. or from officials of any of those latin american governments. multiple sources in the u.s., europe, and the arab world tell cnn there's no indication assad is ready to leave syria. >> is he the kind of person that

would take asylum or will he go down fighting? >> i think there's a real chance that he will huddle along with his sect. the question is whether his sect will want them to huddle with them or not. he has been a failure as a president. he is a very irradic personality. >> andrew has met al assad several times and has worked with his wife. the sect he is talking about are an off chute of shia islam, that dominate syrian politics. if assad does leave, could he be investigated, eventually captured on war crimes charges? >> ecuador, venezuela, cuba, are countries where he could feel safe for the time being, but he has to be concerned about a shift in the winds and any of those governments as well. certainly no one expects the regime in those three states to continue indefinitely. >> they are more sympathetic to ass assad, but there's another ally even closer. >> couldn't he just go to iran?

isn't that more feasible? >> it's easier for him to go to iran. it's a shorter flight. in the end the islamic republic is the place where president assad and his family are going to be safe. >> he says if assad goes anywhere else but iran, there's a better chance of an assassin getting to him and exacting revenge for everything the assad family has carried out in syria. not just over the past two years of this uprising, but over the past 40 years covering the rule of his father. brian todd, cnn, washington. tanks, armored cars roll into egypt as protests target president morsi. michael holmes will weigh in on all this. john mcafee arrested after being on the run. he is wanted for questioning about the death of his neighbor in belize. we're going to show you the video of his arrest.

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with odor free aspercreme. powerful medicine relieves pain fast, with no odor. so all you notice is relief. aspercreme. tanks, armored personnel carriers rolled into the area. this is near the presidential palace. they were scattering crowds of protester that is were fighting in the streets, and many egyptians now are angry at the president saying that he has now made himself a dictator. mohammed morsi spoke just a short time ago.

i want to go live to central cairo. reza sayah is there. the president spoke. what did he say? >> reporter: suzanne, we have to point out that he hasn't delivered his speech yet. he was scheduled to make it about an hour ago. we're still waiting on that address. really, not too many people know what is he going to say. maybe with the exception of members of his inner circle, but we can tell you this. this is a president that's under tremendous pressure to restore peace and calm to egypt. this is a country that is divided, and those divisions could widen unless he does something. the best news right now is there is some peace that has returned to the palace. we are at the palace right now. i'm going to step aside and show you what looks like an airport runway, but that's actually the main road that runs in front of the palace. this is where you have the ugly clashes last night. on one side of the road you have the supporters of the president. on the other side you have opponents, and they brawled it out. the outcome was more than 600

people injured, five people killed. the question was would the clashes continue this morning, but in stepped the republican guard. they basically asked everyone to leave the area, and most of the people did leave the area. especially supporters of the president, suzanne, but within the past hour what we're seeing is opposition factions. the opponents of the president stream in in large groups, and we're angus to see what the coming hours bring as we wait for the presidential address. >> who are the people there protesting against the president, what do they need to hear from him had in sn obviously, they're afraid that he has taken too much power. what do they want to hear? the opposition position is that they want him to cancel the constitution and cancel the referendum that's scheduled on december 15th and to start over. that's their position. the president has given no indication that he is willing to

do that. yesterday the vice president, the president's spokesperson came out and announced that the referendum will take place on december 159, and that's where you have the impasse. that's why a lot of people are eager to see what the president has to say. is he going to back down, or will he stick with that scheduled referendum on december 15th. suzanne. >> and there was violence. actually people died on the streets yesterday. who, do we know, is responsibilitiesible for the killing? is this on both sides? >> yeah, both sides are blaming one another. it was an ugly scene last night. we've seen a lot of tense days over the past week and a half. last night got out of hand. this is the first time twot sides came together at one location, and things were violent. when you looked at these people and you talk to them, what you noticed was deep-seeded mistrust and hatred. there's elements within these two sides that simply do not like one another.

that's really what's fuelling the conflict. the question is there someone that can step in? could the opposition leaders step in with the president and get these two sides united? at this point the two sides are digging in determined to keep their position. suzanne. >> reza sayah, thank you very much. want to bring in michael holmes from cnn international that saw the last image that we saw of people praying. break this down for us. you have some people who are against the president, against the government, don't like what the president has done, and then reza is talking about groups that normally don't like each other and are fighting on the streets. what do we make of who is out there in tahrir square and how big this thing is? >> there's also the cairo factor. that is that mr. morsi and the brotherhood are more unpopular in cairo than in other parts of the country, so you get a bit of a distorted view when you see massive crowds out there. the brotherhood has a lot of support, and you have seen a lot of the supporters bringing brought in to cairo to counter

demonstrate. what we've been seeing is the clashes. it's a very different dynamic in egypt now than what it was during the revolution. you had everyone from islamists along side secularists and along side the intelligencea along side the common foe who no one want to protect anyway. now with the brotherhood you have this very organized, very supported in some parts of the country organization, and that is the muslim brotherhood. these guys go to tahrir square and shout for a few hours. it's not the same. >> the people who are out there, are these the typical egyptians? are these people who are going to work? are these young men who are unemployed and who are frustrated with their lot? >> they're all of those, yeah. >> they're all of those? >> yeah. they're all of those. what you don't have this time are the islamists supporting the revolution, and what you have are the frustrated regular folks, if you like, and who are

also opposed to the direction that this is going, and that comes back to the constitution as well. >> tell us about that. i mean, what direction are we headed? what's the next milestone here because people talk about referendum and the constitution. essentially, i think, from what we can understand is that people believe that the president has too much power. >> too much power, and the constitution is too religious, if you like, and this is where the opposition didn't do itself any favors. they didn't really push to be part of that constitutional development, if you like. they are saying now they're going to boycott the referendum instead of getting out the no vote. that doesn't do themselves any favor. we're talking bay constitution that within egypt is controversial and polarizing. it was drawn up by islamists. it doesn't protect the rights of women and minorities, including religious minorities, big coptic christian population there. journalists see it as being against the freedom of speech, and islamists overseeing the writing of law. that's the concern that those people have. under mubarak it was a secular nation, and now it's not. >> so if you are one of egypt's neighbors and you look and see

what's going on inside, are you worried? are you concerned here? does it look like an arab spring that would actually spill over to the region, or is this something that egypt has to hand on its own and it will sort out? >> the latter. it's going to be the latter wrrn other nations aren't worried. the west is probably looking at how egypt is going in terms of the constitution, and a bit worried about the new egypt they will be dealing with when it comes to international relations. my sense is here a lot of people have sort of written off the muslim brotherhood in other countries as well at veers times. invariably, they've been wrong. these guys are organized and they have strong support, and, unfortunately, the guys on the street said not so organized, not as much support, and there's the cairo factor. it's want the same outside of cairo. >> thanks. appreciate it. >> i want to bring in our barbara star. she's at the pentagon here. she's got more on the situation that is in syria and the reports about the possibility of the sarin gas. barbara, what are you learning? >> well, actually, suzanne, we're standing outside the department of veterans affairs in downtown washington.

defense secretary pan etta just left here. he talked to reporters. we asked about syria, and secretary panetta for the first time speaking since the president's warning to syria. secretary panetta says in his words the latest intelligence that he has seen now raises serious concerns, he says, that bashir al assad in syria is considering using chemical weapons, so what is new from the secretary of defense is the first reference to the latest intelligence, highly classified, of course, that the administration is looking at that has led to some of these warnings from president obama and secretary of state hillary clinton. the question, of course, is what is the administration to do now? suzanne. >> how are people reacting to this news, the fact that you've got the defense secretary now what it seems to be getting closer to some of the statements we have seen about real concern over the possibility of these chemical weapons?

>> yeah. i think that's exactly the point. secretary panetta going on to say, as others have, but saying it very emphatically just a few moments ago, that assad needs to know there will be consequences if he decides to use those chemical weapons against his own people, and, of course, that's as much a message to assad, to iran, which is heavily involved in syria right now, and also, to the middle east dawas in the region. turkey, israel, majoritiedan, as well as lebanon that borders syria and are very concerned about this prospect. what you are seeing really is the rhetoric, the concern, the latest intelligence, and that this is now becoming a regional concern throughout the middle east, suzanne. >> and, barbara, final question, is this any closer to the red line that we heard the president refer to earlier in the week? >> well, what all of these officials have been saying is, you know, the red line, what

they mean by this, we are told, is if assad shows the intent to use. i think the key question that none of us have an answer to is if you are talking consequences, suzanne, will those consequences happen, whatever they are, after fodforbid, chemical weapons are used, or before? if they see the intent, if they see those weapons being loaded up on syrian arpdz, artillery, missiles, rockets, where exactly is that? the administration is not using a lot of precision there. they are talking about intent to use and saying that there will be consequence ifs he uses them, but where that action would really come in, when does the president get a targeting plan? when does the president have to make a decision. all things, we don't know the answer to yet. >> barbara star, thank you very much. appreciate the update. syrian rebels are using ancient techniques. we have an exclusive look. [ male announcer ] imagine facing the day

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a chemical weapons attack in syria adds a level of concern.

bashir al assad, his regime is growing desperate with rebels growing in presence. fighting has already ripped apart the country's largest city, aleppo. that's where arwa damon takes us through an exclusive look in parts of that city now turned into a war zone. >> reporter: aleppo's old city has not seen such devastation since occupied by the mongol invaders centuries ago. this mosque, for example, dates back to 1315. this is syria's rich cultural heritage, and now everywhere we look it's been scarred by war. once bustling, winding streets now a maze of ever shifting front lines. overhead the thundering of fighter jets. lodging for caravans down the aging rising ruins.

for more than three millennium aleppo has been a crossroads for traders. we hurry through the courtyard of a traditional home. streets are strung across streets to block snipers line of site sight. a unit of fighters reports people's names and license plates. only those who have shops here are allowed through. abu says they're trying to clamp down on robberies. he says he shows us the list, the highlighted names have cleared out all their possessions. in one market a shop recently hit by army fire still smolders. a man who doesn't want to appear on camera rushes to clear his wares. the stench of filth and cordite

has replaced the once intoxicating smells of spices that wafted through these streets. down one narrow street we run into halid carrying an infra-red camera he is about to install. there are government snipers so, we've started putting up cameras to observe and target them, he tells us. a former electrician, he has so far managed to put up four and string together a jumble of power cables. he picks up a mart ar as we move towards the frontline and points out the rebel's former firing position. now they've moved it up a block. step this way. there is a sniper, he warns. this is the rebels' so-called field operation center, a flat screen tv in a medieval setting. the camera that halid wants to set up will be in front of the

building that we can just see from a here, and right in front of it is a makeshift slingshot, and that is how they're firing the mortars. >> reporter: an ancient weapon deployed in a very modern war. in a narrow alleyway, he makes the call to prayer. there is no power to amplify his appeal, and his voice echos off the walls punctuated by the ricochet of bullets. the heart of old aleppo, now the historic battleground for the very uncertain future of syria. >> that was arwa damon on the frontlines in aleppo. this guy, he has been on the run. wanted for questioning about the death of his neighbor, but after secret meetings with the media, software giant john mcafee has now been caught. we actually have video of his arrest. t. the perfect place to bring the all-new cadillac ats

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guatemalan jails have -- >> john, where are you going? >> to jail. >> when will you be out? >> all right. so yesterday mcafee applied for asylum in guatemala, and during a news conference, he accused belize of persecuting him for refusing to pay a bribe to local politician. as i e walked up to the news conference, he sdee described his life to his girlfriend about the united states. vice media catches all of this. watch. >> you never seen this before, have you? >> no, never in my life. >> this is my life in america, sweetie, so you'll see that i'm quite comfortable with this. i have for five years lived in belize peacefully. seven months ago the belize government sent 42 armed soldiers into my property. they killed one of my dogs. they broke into all of my houses. they stole. they arrested me and kept me handcuffed in the sun for 14

hours. i was taken to jail, and it was only the intervention of the u.s. embassy that got me out of jail. since that time, i have been continually harassed by the government. they have attempted to charge me with every crime ranging from running an antibiotics laboratory without a license to hiring security guards without a license, to having improper paperwork for my company, and most recently, the murder of my neighbor. i had to leave, but the story has to get out. i have documentation that proves the intent corruption of all levels of the belizean government. now that i'm in a safe place, i can speak freely. i will be speaking on my blogs who is fabbing mee.com starting tonight revealing the truth about belize. thank you very much. >> he says that a guatemalan judge is reviewing his case, and he says he would like to go back to the wraits. lattes, skoenz.

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responding to a public outcry from across the pond. starbucks executives says the coffee company will pay more taxes in the company starting next year. the payments will amount to about $16 million u.s. starbucks along with google and amazon have been using legal loopholes to minimize their corporate taxes in britain. execs of all three companies recently got a public -- >> despite the fact that starbucks, how much money it makes. it's kind of like a drop in the

bucket. >> well, yeah. yesterday we pointed out that between all the various ways that starbucks takes there is really nothing left, nothing at all left for profits. today what the company announced is that they are going to take the money that they pay in royalties and the money they pay on inter-company events like loans, and here going to no longer take deductions. what does this mean in reality? in practice it means there will be money, more money, for starbucks to pay as corporation tax, but here's the thing. >> okay. >> they say they'll pay maybe $50 million this year. the numbers are still being worked out. similar amount next year. well, you might have gotten that the british say, oh, yes, nice

round of applause. not a bit of it. people are saying in this country tonight fair enough, starbucks, but paying tax isn't voluntary. it's not something you decide you're going to do. in fact, hmrc, our ekwilent are saying that starbucks should pay more tax. where does all this leave this rather nasty mess? in hard times people are going to want to bring in every penny. again, suzanne, what the companies have done is perfectly legal it's like those people in the united states paying less tax than their secretaries. it's like the accusations made by mitt romney. it was all perfectly legal. what star buck has found is that there's a difference between legal at and morality. >> it can be unseemly. they've got profit. you got those beans in that little cup there. do you think that, like, google

and amazon, would they follow starbucks here? would they follow their lead? is there any pressure for them to do the same thing? >> absolutely there's pressure, but this is what starbucks said. we know we're not perfect. this is the managing director, starbucks u.k. we've listened over the past few months. we're committed to the u.k. we will give us an opportunity to build trust and customers. starbucks admitted they were shocked -- they were surprised about the ferocity of the complaints against them. this feeling. does amazon and google follow suit? i think google is a different kettle of fish. google, you do it at your computer. you don't really make that same conscious decision as a consumer. amazon, possibly. you do go on to amazon.co.uk. they could see a consumer backlash. it's the real consumer facing companies, like starbucks, and

remember, suzanne, yesterday the british chancellor revised them downward. he raise the taxed and cut -- in that environment, what starbucks has basically done, voluntarily is say we'll pay our share. or at least part of it. >> appreciate it. this guy works as a consee arj in a powerful washington d.c. building. his passion to give back to his hometown in africa has now inspired a whole community. [ male announcer ] this december, remember --

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rescue workers are looking for seven others, but they have called off the search just a short time ago. this is the ship that went down. it was reportedly carrying 1,400 new cars. all of them now in the bottom of the sea. no word yet on why these two ships actually collided. weather reportedly wasn't a factor. parts of the southern philippines is in sham belled after a typhoon hammered the country. the number will probably get higher because hundreds of people are still missing. 250,000 people are now homeless, and relief workers say many of them are in desperate need of water, food, and shelter. in thailand a man who used to lead the government could be put to death for a deadly crackdown on protesters. reuters reporting that the former prime minister has been charged with ordering troops to use real bullets on anti-government demonstrators back in 2010. officials say he and his deputy are responsible for the deaths of dozens of civilians. now, if convicted they could

face the death penalty or life in prison. well, schools, new homes, and water wells, this village really getting an upgrade with the help of this man. he work as a concierge of d.c. with the help of powerful people in his building, he is able to give back to his hometown in africa. we'll talk with him next. and a choice. ritis n take tylenol or take aleve, the #1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. just two aleve can keep pain away all day. back to the news. and the candidate's speech is in pieces all over the district. the writer's desktop and the coordinator's phone are working on a joke with local color. the secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategist's tablet. and while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center... working together has never worked so well.

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jean is an inspiration to those that hn him. he is a concierge at a building in the shadow of the capitol. he has sparked the spirit of giving among the lobbyists of his d.c. power brokers that he serves. well, with donations for people who work at 101 constitution avenue, he has raised enough money to build a well to bring safe drinking water to his

hometown. he wants to build houses, schools, make his home village very self-sufficient, and it's so nice to see you. he joins us from washington. tell us, first of all -- i mean, it's really amazing. i know exactly where that building is, and there are a lot of folks that have got power, they've got money, and you took this idea to them. how did it start? >> well, it started, you know, it's just having a good sense of humor, i guess, think about my life coming from that little, little village in west africa, and then now i have a friend that works in the powerful offices and powerful buildings. i can't help but count my blessings. god has a sense of good hourm. >> fwood hourm, and now good fortune to your hometown. tell us, first of all, how do people live there. what are the living conditions like? >> the living condition is just -- it's not -- for someone who lives in western cities

unless you live the experience, then you can't comprehend it, because the living conditions are very harsh. every single day of your life is just a strug and a challenge. it it's. >> sometimes you go with just one meal a day. >> even just getting water and safe, clean drinking water, it's unbelievable. what did you say? what did you say to your neighbors? what did you say to the people in that building to get them to donate? >> well, a friend asked me, somebody gave me like a bonus check, and a friend asked me, okay, let's go for a drink and let's go -- i said no. this check is going to go to my family in west africa. he asked me a question, and i started telling him about the hardship of my people, my family is living in west africa. he said, you know what, let's build a well. i kind of laughed in his face. you know how much it costs to build a well? he said you can do it.

give me the napz of your friends, your contacts. i'm going to call them, and i'm going to tell them of the need. again, i couldn't believe it. he started it, and, hey, we have nice clean water back in my village in africa, and my family is so thankful and so grateful and has clean water. >> can you imagine how many people in washington go out for drinks and if they said, you know what, don't buy me that drink, let's go do something, let's go do something good that makes a difference. tell us a little bit about your family there. i understand that you went back and visited a little bit, yes? >> yes, i was back in december 2011 for my older son's wedding, which was a great wedding, and it was a humbling experience going back to the village and see my brothers and sisters, my uncle, nephew, and, you know, just around our village. we're living in very harsh conditions, but they were happy to see me, be joyful and thankful. it was a great experience, but

for me coming back from the western country and going back home and visiting people and seeing them under very, very hard conditions just breaks my heart. i believe i came back depressed. >> you turned that depression and intoomething that was very good and very positive. how was it you came to the united states? >> well, let's say i was running from misery. my mom told me to just so i could find my way, and leaving home i was leaving to better myself to be able to help the people i left behind, so if i'm not going to do something about it, i failed my -- my duty, and it's hard sometimes because i live with my wife and my five children. my oldest one got married and moved away. it's very hard. sometimes it's tight, but i know

i'm better off. my family here is better off than the people i left behind in the village. i want to do something about it. >> you have done an amaze, an amazing thing that you have done bringing a lot of people in washington together and certainly appreciating what it is that we have and so much to give there. how can people actually help out? how can they get involved? >> they can get involved -- as a matter of fact, you don't have to go far to see people in need. even here in america people are strug ling. you know, people are losing their jobs and people are shopping and spending all this money. just look next door. reach out to your neighbor and see what kind of need they have and lend a helping hand to help your neighbor, and back in africa, you know, i would love -- go into the small villages and see what needs are there. the needs are immense. the needs are great. people are struggling, and i can't thank my wife enough for giving away things.

i don't know when i took them on vacation trip, but she always willing to let me send money to help my family back home. she's a blessing to my life and to my family. >> a shout out to the wife. i like that. >> yes. >> so nice to meet you, obviously. your work is incredible and what you are doing really appreciated, and obviously people are making a difference there. thank you so much. >> thank you for having me. >> thank you. coming up at the top of the hour, recreational pot now legal in washington state. there are some restrictions. it's the aarp medicarerx saver plus plan from unitedhealthcare. with this plan, you can get copays as low as a dollar through a preferred network pharmacy like walgreens -- where you'll find 8,000 convenient locations. best of all, this plan has the lowest part d premium in the united states -- only $15 a month. open enrollment ends december 7th. so call today or visit your local walgreens.

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another inspirational story that was trending this morning coming from austria where a vienna bus driver was at the end of his route and found a bag that had been left behind with 390,000 euros. that's more than $500,000 u.s. dollars. well, the driver turned the money over to police. they were able to track down the owner who is an elderly woman,

and it was actually her life savings. zimplt an update on the bizarre case of a millionaire caught in a murder investigation. we want to get right to it. sdmrirchlg it's a new day for marijuana in washington state, so at the stroke of midnight the recreational use of pot became legal. that is thanks to a law that voters across the state authorized last month. it allows people 21 and older to have as much as an ounce of pot for personal use. now, voters in colorado passed a similar law last month, but pot smokers there are going to have to wait until january 5th before they can legally light up. now, 18 states, including

washington and colorado, plus the district of columbia, already let adults have marijuana for medical purposes. now, these new laws mark a shift towards legal personal use. our miguel marquez was in seattle at the moment when the new law became official. >> three, two, one! [ cheering snchl [. >> reporter: the moment recreational pot, mying less than an ounce, no longer illegal in washington state. >> it's amazing. i'm not a criminal anymore. i can't go to jail for small amounts of marijuana. you know? i'm free to be free. >> reporter: several dozen hard core smokers showed up here to the base of the space needle, a symbol of stet and of the state to light up at the stroke of midnight, and while the new law does not allow smoking in public places, seattle police and police departments across the state are turning a blind eye tonight allowing celebrations to light up. >> this is what you assume the stores will look like or

something along these lines? >> yeah. our stores are going to have the feel of a fine cigar shop. >> reporter: jayman was a high profile executive at microsoft now preparing to open as many as two dozen highend marijuana shops in washington and colorado. yesterday he would be called a drug dealer. today an entrepreneur. >> our target market is actually baby boomers, so these are folks who maybe tried it in college a couple of times, maybe they didn't inhale, and -- but now it's actually safe to inhale. >> reporter: he is already working on packaging and attractive he displays for future clients. the state liquor control board has a year to regulate and license the growing, processing, and retailing of marijuana here. all of it taxable at a very high 25%. >> we are looking at the potential of bringing in more than $500 million each year in new tax revenue. rimplgt the big question, still what will the federal government do? pot still illegal federally.

today a legal toke up revolution burning here and soon colorado. miguel marquez, cnn, seattle. by early next month we expect the law of the land in colorado to allow adults 21 and older to legally have small amounts of marijuana for personal use, but the change creating legal headaches. will prosecutors drop pot possession cases that get into the pipeline before january 5th? what about the federal laws that actually bar marijuana use? our jim spellman, he has that report. >> reporter: on election day colorado voted to legalize marijuana and by early january the governor will make it official, but don't expect the streets of denver to look like this. smoking pot in public will remain illegal. behind closed doors the times, they are achanging. >> adults 21 and over can press small amounts of marijuana and grow small amounts of marijuana privately, so it really is a

fundamental shift from the 80 odd years of marijuana prohibition. >> brian is a co-aught o of amendment 64 that legalize approximated marijuana. built into the amendment is a year-long waiting period for the state to come up with a system to regulate pot like alcohol and ultimately set up marijuana stores by early 2014. >> we want to be a model for the rest of the states on how to treat this policy issue correctly. >> reporter: the effects of the amendment are already being felt. pending mile an hour cases have been dropped in several jurisdictions, but not everywhere. ken buck is the well county d.a. >> the law is it is still illegal to possess marijuana and we are still prosecuting marijuana cases. >> reporter: composed amendment 64, he says of the 120 pending marijuana cases in his county, three-quarters involve other crimes. he relies on marijuana charges to divert users into drug treatment programs which he says helps reduce crime. >> we're going to see an increased crime rate. i think we're going to see

demotivation among high school students and others who end up smoke this. i think we're going to see the impact for years to come as a result of this experiment. >> reporter: marijuana is still against federal law, and regulators worry the administration could block legalization. >> it is the will of the voters of colorado that these actions in amendment 64 take place. that said, you know, the federal government has a very strong interest here and so we need to know what they plan to do. >> if the federal government does intend to block amendment 64, advocates say they're ready to fight. >> i'm an attorney, and we have a team of attorneys in colorado and nationally that we're prepared to defend the will of these voters. >> jim spellman is joining us live from denver. jim, it's a little confusing for people who are not there because you've got federal authorities. they might step in to block this constitutional amendment from becoming law. so on the one hand people are saying it's legal there, but on

the other hand federal law says it's not legal. how do they sort all that out. >> sure. the colorado governor's office has reached out to the justice department saying give us guidance. as of this morning, they still haven't heard back. here's the model that advocates for amendment 64 hope will happen. about four years ago when the first obama administration came in, eric holder signalled that they were not going to prosecute, go after medical marijuana in states that had approved it. since that time, a huge medical marijuana industry has popped up here. we have about 500 medical marijuana stores here and over 100,000 people on the medical marijuana registry. even though it's still against federal law, medical or not, so the advocates here are hoping that at the minimum they'll get that kind of wink and a nod sort of for the federal government. it still doesn't really settle anything, but that's their sort of early stage hope. they're realistic and know that this could well end up in court, and as you heard in the piece, they are ready to fight for what they call the will of colorado voters. >> so in the meantime here, if you're one of these people who

is smoking in colorado or you want to smoke in colorado, could you get arrested, or it's just considered legal and it's okay? >> well, you're not going to get arrested in the short-term because it would really take, i guess, federal authorities to come and arrest you. i don't think realistically that's going to happen. state police, county police, city police, they're not going to be arresting people for possession or growing a small number of plants. plus, again, we do have this medical marijuana industry here. honestly, anybody here who really wants to buy and use marijuana can get a medical marijuana card. it's not that hard and buy this stuff. i don't think there's going to be a huge amount of change here, but what these advocates want to do is set up a model. they've done it with medical marijuana. set up a model for using recreational marijuana and hoping that that will spread across the country. >> all right. jim, thank you. you know, there's a lot of confusion about this, but a majority of americans say that they actually do support making marijuana legal, and a new poll

51% of those surveyed say they favor legalization. there's a significant gender gap, however. check this out. while almost 60% of men say they support legalization, only 44% of women actually want it to be legal. pot users in washington, they're also facing a legal conundrum as well. use of the drug is legal as of today, but there's still a to grow and sell pot for personal use. let's sort all this out with our legal analyst sunny hoston. it's confusing here. >> it is. >> it is. >> it has me sort of scratching my head, and i think the legal geeks are really struggling with this because, as you mentioned, it's now okay to smoke pot. not in public, but at your home. but it's not okay to grow or sell it. i always have the question when looking at this law, how do you get it? how do you get it? to acquire it, you then have to go to someone that's doing

something illegal, and you become part of sort of a criminal enterprise, right? >> explain this to us. i think i understand what jim was saying here, but on the one hand, if marijuana for personal, recreational use is legal on a state level, then you wouldn't be arrested, people would not be arrested by state troopers or local officials, but if there was a federal official because it's still a federal crime, they could be arrested from a federal official, like a dea or some somebody like that. is that the accurate reading? >> that's the accurate reading. no question about it. if you are in one of these states that has passed this law, you've got to be careful. you can't take your marijuana with you on to federal property, right, federal parks, federal courthouses. you could be arrested and certainly tried and convicted of a marijuana offense, and so federal law tipically, suzanne, trumps state law, and so while it's okay, again, in these states that have passed these

laws to possess and to smoke marijuana in your home, it's not okay federally, and so i think the feds really are going to have to weigh in on this because it's such a legal conup drum. people really don't know what to do, and i think we're all now looking for some guidance from the justice department. sfoo people are looking for some guidance from the attorney general eric holder in particular, but trafficking of marijuana still a federal crime. i'm assuming as well that if you were to travel with marijuana from one state where it's legal to another state where it's not that you could be in jeopardy of being arrested. >> absolutely. absolutely. again, because if you are going from one state to another, that makes it federally -- a federal jurisdiction there. crossing state lines. if you are crossing state lines with marijuana, that is still an illegal drug under federal law, so the last thing you need is to be caught trafficking many

marijuana, and there certainly is, again, that issue. if you are in washington state, even though you can possess it, you can't grow it. you can't sell it. how do you get it? are you going to try to go across state lines to get it and go back? it really, really is problematic. >> all right. sunny, thank you for helping us sort it out. >> i try. >> i'm sure there are a lot of questions still that this is going to play out from state to state around the country. thanks again. really appreciate it. zirjts here's what we're working on for this hour. fears that syria could use chemical weapons against its own people now growing. a look at what deadly nerve gas, like sarin, has done to civilians that have been exposed to it in the past. and millionaire software developer john mcafee is arrested for entering guatemala illegally. it is on camera. hear what he said. ♪ ♪

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with odor free aspercreme. powerful medicine relieves pain fast, with no odor. so all you notice is relief. aspercreme. an apple mac computer made in the usa says it will happen starting next year. he says the computer giant will spend more than $100 million on the new made in the usa product. the company moved most of its manufacturing to asia back in the late 1990s to take advantage of low labor costs. dave simon is outside apple headquarters in coopertino,

california. we are talking about $100 million. seems like a small investment for a multibillion dollar company like apple. do we think we'll see more of these made in the usa products? >> reporter: well, hey, suzanne. all the company is talking about now is a single product, something from its mac product family. obviously that pales in comparison to the number of units they make of the iphone or ipad, for instance, but it does represent a start. there are a couple of different ways of looking at had. some might say $100 million, that's chump change to a company that has, you know, $100 billion in the bank and that it won't employ all that many workers. my own analysis of this, and i cover this -- have been covering this company for a long time, is that, yes, apple has the greatest pr machine in the world, but, look, this is a beginning for them. this is good pr for them, but it will establish a presence in the united states, and it may encourage other companies to do the same thing. you know, it's no secret why the

vast majority of apple products are made in china because we're talking about cheap labor and we're talking about infrastructure capacity, which we don't currently have in the u.s. tim cook says he wants to bring that to the u.s. here's what he told "businessweek. "next year we're going to bring some production to the u.s. on the mac. we are getting closer to it. it will happen in 2013. we're really proud of it. additionally, suzanne, i want to play you something that tim cook said earlier this year about the possibility of bringing manufacturing to the united states. take a look. >> even though it doesn't say that today, you could put down there several parts are from the united states. >> well, the question -- the question coming up is how many jobs are we talking about? where will they be located? what kind of skills will be required to get these jobs? at this point we just don't know. we have to wait for the company to announce where they're going

to put these plants. they seem to be partner with others, though. they're going to invest $100 million and could probably let other folks do most of the work. an american multimillionaire that is wanted for questioning in a murder case in belize might be forced to return to that country today. john mcafee, this is a bizarre steer, he created mcafee computer security shoft wear. he is under arrest in guatemala. he is accused of entering that country illegally. authorities in belize want to question mcafee about the killing of his neighbor there. it looks like they're going to get their wish because guatemala officials are likely to send him back to belize today, and mcafee says he has nothing to do with his neighbor's death. vice media shot exclusive video of mcafee being arrested last night. watch this. >> they're trying to arrest me. guatemalan jails have beds. >> john, where are you going? >> to jail. >> when will you be out?

>> so yesterday mcafee applied for asylum in gaut mall are a. during the news conference, he accused belize of persecuting him for refusing to pay a bribe to a local politician. as he walked up to that news conference, he described his life in the united states to his girlfriend, and then he spoke to reporters. now, vice media caught all of this, so watch. >> you never seen this before, have you? >> no, never in my life. >> this is my life in america, sweetie, so you'll see that i'm quite comfortable with this. i have for five years lived in belize peacefully. seven months ago the belizean government sent 42 armed soldiers into my property. they killed one of my dogs. they broke into all of my houses. they stole. they arrested me ask kept me handcuffed in the sun for 14 hours. i was taken to jail, and it was only the intervention of the u.s. embassy that got me out of jail. since that time, i have been continually harassed by the government. they have attempted to charge me

with every crime ranging from running an antibiotics laboratory without a license, to hiring security guards without a license, to having improper paperwork for my company, and most recently, the murder of my neighbor. i had to leave, but the story has to get out. i have documentation that proves the intense corruption at all levels of the belizean government. now that i'm in a safe place, i can speak freely. now i will be speaking through my blog regarding the truth about police. >> mcafee did write on his blog. he says a guatemalan judge is reviewing his case now. he says he would like to go back to the united states. according to a spokesman for the belize police department, authorities seem to be angered and baffled by his blog and his accusations. they have not commented to cnn on his arrest. reports today that syria is loading components for a chemical weapons into bombs, it is a flashback of the days of

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panetta talked about consequences in syria uses chemical weapons against their people. >> the whole world is watching. the whole world is watching very closely, and the president of the united states has made very clear that there will be consequences. there will be consequences if the assad regime makes the terrible mistake by using these chemical weapons on their own people. i'm not going to speculate or comment on what those potential consequences would be but i think it's fair enough to say their use of those weapons would cross a line. >> syria's military has loaded the component chemicals for the deadly nerve gas sarin into aerial bombs that could be dropped from fighter jets. our national security contributor fran townsend is joining us via skype from new york to discuss this. fran, first of all, leon

panetta, the defense secretary, said this. i want to read this and get your take on this. he says, "the intelligence that we have causes serious concerns that this is being considered." what does he mean by that? what do you think the intelligence he has in his hands to say such a thing? >> well, it sounds when you read the "new york times" report earlier this week put together with the nbc report, it appears that they're taking steps to certainly mix the precursor chemicals that would be required to load them into warheads and nbc went as far as to say that the sarin had been loaded into the weapons. either way it's, one, a serious step, and, second, something we've not seen before. you remember the earlier reports, suzanne, that the intelligence community believed there was some movement of the weapons. that was concerning enough. the notion that they've gone yet a step further that is to either prepare or, in fact, load the chemical weapons into the

warheads is very serious because, of course, it limits your options for how you may react. >> fran, does this bring us any closer to the red line that the president has talked about that he would have to see some sort of intention from syria to use that type of nerve gas against its own people? are we closer to that? >> most definitely, suzanne. i'm not sure how much closer you get to loading the red line. i think you will hear, and in congress especially, some real debate about whether or not we've waited too long because, as i said earlier, when they've got the weapons this close to launch -- the capability of launch, have you really limited yourself in terms of what you can do. remember, if you wanted to now have an air operation and bomb inside syria to prevent as much a launch, you now risk the fact that any bombing could trigger a release, right, and the very gas that you were trying to sort of

keep control of in a bombing could be released inadvertently. >> senator john mccain has just reacted to what the defense secretary said. i want you to listen to what he believes is necessary. >> the time for talking about what to do may now be coming to a close, and we may just be left with an awful and very difficult decision. whether to continue on the sidelines and hope that a man was slaughtered nearly 40,000 men, women, and children in syria will decide not to take the next step and use far more destructive weapons to kill significantly larger numbers of people or whether to take military action of some kind that could prevent a mass atrocity. if that is the choice we now face, it is a grave and sobering decision. >> fran, what do you think? i mean, do you think it is time now to consider military action on the part of the united states? >> well, i think what is going on now, you know, if you look

and you see secretary clinton is traveling to the middle east on monday. i think what the administration is scrambling to do now is to try and put together an international coalition, much as we saw them do with libya. talking to the arab league, talking to gulf allies, talking to nato, because, of course, we're better off if we don't have to act alone. if we have the support of the international community, you know, but, frankly, i think i probably fall down where senator mccain was at least implying, and that is we've waited awfully long and we've made it a far more difficult task by waiting until now to intervene there? what's at stake? this is not the first time that chemical weapons were used in the region. we all know and remember when saddam hussein used nerve gas on the kurds in iraq. explain what happens. >> well, it takes -- i think people really underestimate or don't appreciate sort of just how powerful these are. you know, back the group in

japan used it on a train, and the train doors opened, and most everyone there was dead. it takes a very small bit. it travels through the air. over an extensive swath, and it takes very little to kill people and very quickly. i'm talking a matter of minutes. this is not just a threat. it's a very grave threat to the syrian people themselves, but you can imagine if you were a neighbor, turkey, who has seen so many refugees, jordan, israel. if you are a neighbor of syria, you feel directly threatened by a potential release, even if it wasn't sort of purposefully directed at you. you could -- and you your citizens could fall victim to it. it's very powerful. it's very difficult to control once it's been released, and very, very deadly. >> all right. fran townsend, thank you very much. appreciate your perspective as always. this just in to cnn. a spokesperson for the president of guatemala says the american software mogul, john mcafee, is

going to be denied asylum. he is going to be denied asylum. he was seeking asylum. that is going to be now denied. john mcafee, he created, of course, mcafee computer security software. he is currently in police custody in guatemala. he is accused of entering that country illegally, but it's authorities in belize who want to question him about the death of his neighbor there in belize when he was living in belize. now, mcafee, he says he has nothing to do with his neighbor's death. he has been on the run and talking to media, and now he has been denied asylum in guatemala. some folks worried now about the fiscal cliff. one economist worried that a budget deal will actually hurt the economy and send unemployment sky-high. i'll hear what he has to say up next. [ male announcer ] introducing...

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just 26 days away their taxes are going to go up if congress and the bhous don't reach a debt deal, and now a new development in the standoff. we have republican senator tom coburn breaking ranks with leaders supporting an increase in tax rates for the wealthiest 2% of americans. coburn is known for his hard line on the deficit. he says he would rather bring down the debt by raising tax rates than just closing the loopholes and capping deducti s deductions. here's how he explained it. >> personally, i know we have to raise revenue. i don't really care which way we do it. actually, i would rather see the rates go up than do it the other way because it gives us greater chance to broaden the by as in the future and reform the tax code. >> two republican senators from maine are joining coburn in backing a tax hike on the wealthiest americans, but senator susan collins and olympia snowe say they would like to include some protect as well for small business owners. well, no debt talks scheduled between republicans and the white house, but the president is pushing ahead with the fiscal cliff pr campaign.

he is meeting with a middle class family in northern virginia, and the white house says the president is going to talk about his efforts to extend tax cuts for the middle class as part of this debt deal. well, some economists are predicting that the country will go into another recession if this debt deal is not reached. any deal that the lawmakers and white house come up with is also going to have a major impact, so joining us to talk a little bit about it, peter morrissey. he is a business professor at the university of maryland, and our own chief business xhnt ali velshi. you wrote something, an article here, predicting that these tax hikes, the spending cuts likely in the debt deal, could push unemployment, you believe, from 7.9% all the way to 10%. how so? >> well, simply it will cut spending in the economy. the wealthy will have less money to spend, but the government will likely be spending a lot less money as well because the republicans are going to want spending cuts. you combine, say, about $250 billion in spending and tax cuts. that will probably cut gdp with

the usual multiplier efforts of two percentage points. that's enough to raisen employment by a couple of percentage points. it's serious business. >> ali, what do you think? >> yeah. well, look, i think peter is right. the spending cuts that would be imposed by the fiscal cliff would be devastating. it would send unemployment higher. it would cost jobs. the republicans, as peter says, are going to insist on some cuts anyway, so bottom line is we are going to see a weaker economy into the beginning of next year. probably one way or the other. now, the counter to that, peter, is that there are forces in the economy that are strengthening it. this energy boom that we've got, the natural gas, the amount of fracturing that we're doing, the fact that housing has been doing tremendously well, and interest rates remain very low with prices, so there's some sense that there's a bit of a renaissance on the horizon, and if the government doesn't mess that up too much, 2013 could end up being as good as 2012 if not a little better. i don't know if you completely disagree with that, peter, but i think there's enough good going on that it could offset the bad. >> to you think it could go up to 10% unemployment.

do you agree with peter on that? >> i don't know. i don't know if it will go go up to 10%. there are two scenarios. one is if we really go fully off the cliff, nobody does anything, and nobody fixes anything, i don't think that will ultimately happen. i think we're going to go sort of partially off this cliff, and there will be some cuts, and there will be some tax increases. probably the net result is that it will soften whatever was happening in the economy, but there are other forces that are strengthening it. i don't know if 10% is in the cards. >> what do you think it means if we go off the fiscal cliff? do you think it will be devastating as many are predicting? >> well, if we go off the cliff, it will certainly be devastating. i think it's very hard to argue that subtracting $500 billion to $600 billion from spending overall would not cause something in the neighborhood of $800 billion to $900 billion of loss to gdp, and that would put us in a recession. the energy boom, housing is contributing to growth. also, the auto sector. however, if we look at consumer spending, it has begun to slow. it has slowed down.

there's no reason to belief it's going to grow rather dramatically faster in the first half of next year. my view is without any action, the u.s. economy would grow at 2% to 3%. maybe a little less. with some action, say, $300 billion in cuts, then i have to subtract something for that, and i start to get close to zero. when you get close to zero, there's always the problem that the economy can't grow too slowly because it just loses momentum, and it's like a man on a bicycle and falls off. >> ali, what is the prescription here? what is the right balance between cutting these programs and the expenditures and also bringing revenue? >> look at it at a microlevel. peter talks about consumer spending, and you can put business spending into that. the bottom line is if everything that was bad in the fiscal cliff happened, there are some estimates it might take, you know, $2,500 out of the average family's spending. for a regular family that will take a lot out of their budget. if you have a new job and we are gaining jobs, it has less of a bite because now you've got new

money. the bottom line is we need to not go off the cliff. we need to not see massive spending cuts. we're going to have to have longer-term cuts, and in my opinion probably longer term tax increases on everybody. not just the top 2%. it would be best not to do it at this sort of dangerous time in the economy in a way that would be so -- have such a forceful impact on the economy. that is a political decision more than it's an economic discussion right now. >> peter, i'm going to give you the last word. >> it's really a political issue. this is not the right time to be cutting. maybe another six months. however, the president sees this as an opportunity to get the cuts in ways that he likes best because he won the election. fair enough. so the president sees a political opportunity. i think there's some danger here by not just renewing all these tax cuts and sitting down and talking about tax reform and spending cuts by midyear, that there's a real danger that we could tumble the economy. >> all right. peter, ali, thank you so much. we'll be waiting. obviously, days away to see what's going to happen here.

thank you. one of the most staunchly conservative members of the u.s. senate calling it quits. senator jim diment announced he will resign from congress at the end of the month. he is leaving to take over the think tank the heritage foundation. he says he can be more effective outside the senate than inside. >> i'm convinced that we need to take a positive optimistic message to the american people. a lot of my role in the senate has been stopping bad things and saying no to bad things, but we need to do more than that, and tell americans what we're for. one of the mistakes i think the republican party made the last two years is trying to make obama the issue without sharing with america bold reform ideas that get people inspired to get behind us. >> following the rules of the senate south carolina's governor will be named with an immediate successor to fill demint's seat, and then the state will hold a

special election for the voters to choose a permanent replacement. we'll have more at the top of the hour, and also, this story. a brave young boy who lost his home and his school in hurricane sandy. well, he is now talking about coping with life. >> when something brings you down, you got to get up. >> you okay, buddy? one family is doing more than a lot after the tragedy that destroyed tens of thousands of homes on the east coast. [ wh] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it... in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. great taste. mmm... [ male announcer ] sounds good. it's amazing what soup can do.

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this is an amazing story of survival. a new york family who lost everything after superstorm sandy are struggling to make a new life, and one of the biggest challenges is for 13-year-old star student in the family to just get to school. poppy harlow has the story. >> reporter: the sun isn't up for breakfast time for the

panettas. >> how tired are you? >> very. >> they are now living in a borrowed one bedroom apartment with their parents. >> how long is your commute to school now? >> it feels almost like two hours. >> what did it used to be? >> 15 minutes. >> wow. >> reporter: 6:30 a.m. and they're out the door. a long car ride. >> have a go ahead day. >> reporter: then a bus to ryan's temporary school. ps 13. >> it's unreal how much our life has changed, and we're trying to make the best of it. >> reporter: he is an eighth grade honor student. one of 5,400 new york students still in different schools because of sandy zoosh he is the one that i think was probably impacted the most, and yet, he has the strongest will to be here every day. >> when something brings you down, you got to get up. >> you okay, buddy? what makes you so sad?

>> i honestly don't know. >> everything? >> yeah. it's everything. >> vfw for hot meals. >> have a good day, ryan. >> every day after school ryan returns to broad channel to help his dad try to put their home back together. >> everything i owned, everything i worked hard for, everything that was there, and it's gone. there's nothing. >> reporter: joe was working overnights and karen was home with their four children when sandy hit. >> it was unbelievable how quick it came out. >> the water rushed into their one story house. ryan swam to a neighbor for help zoosh i jumped out. >> you jumped out here in the water? >> yes. i wasn't even thinking that, like, a log would hit me or anything. >> or the electrical power lines? >> yeah. >> you swam to this house? >> yes, right here. >> and they being says into their second floor. >> the neighbor helped bring the ris of the family over, and they watched as the water engulfed the only home they had known. >> what did you think when your 13-year-old son jumped in the water?

>> you know, i was panicking. i was panicking. >> did ryan help save your family? >> absolutely. >> for question? >> absolutely. >> i was thinking that the rain is going to come. >> do you feel like your brother helped save you? >> yes. >> they're now working to rebuild their home, and erase the bad memories. >> after what i have just been through, like, i don't hope i have to see anything that terrifying again. >> poppy harlow, cmn, broad channel, new york. >> we wish them the best. medical marijuana doctors don't recommend it for children, but for one 6-year-old boy it brings new meaning to life. re a. everything has to be just right. perfection is in the details. ♪ get to holiday fun faster with pillsbury cookie dough.

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california, one of a handful of states that permit the use of medical marijuana, and one father sees it really as a life-saving remedy. kim law has the story. [ crying ] >> reporter: the video is hard to watch. 6-year-old jayden in an epileptic seizure. >> when you hold your son and he is screaming like that, what is that like? >> i would say hell. there's nothing you can do to make him feel better. >> reporter: but there is something. jason david administers an unorthodoxed drug for his son's catastrophic epilepsy, a disease that can be fatal for children. >> it stopped the seizure? >> stopped the seizure, and he is in pain and suffering. we have to do whatever it takes to save their life. >> reporter: pharmaceutical drugs have failed the modesto, california, family. >> he couldn't walk. he couldn't take a bath. after a year of taking a lim

liquid form of medical marijuana that doesn't get you high -- >> i love you. >> yeah, jayden. >> reporter: he is playing, running, and climbing. jayden is eating solid food. from 22 pills a day to a day tos epilep epilepsy, down to a pill and a half. it's now zero trips in the ambulance. >> miracle marijuana. >> reporter: jayden is not the only one. there's no solid national statistics of medical marijuana but where it's legal states report dozens of registered users under the age of 18, some as young as 2. and this is your vault? >> this is our vault. >> reporter: a vault full of various types of medicinal marijuana. technicians sort, ammize and distill the plant. it's science here. and they believe it will help children with severe autism, ep

department sy and cancer. >> we have seen more than one child like jayden who came to us with very, very serious, severe life threatening illnesses who as soon as they started using cannabis medicine draw a dramatic turnaround. >> reporter: the community says without better research most doctors opposed medical marijuana for children. >> all medications may have side effects, may have long-term consequences and unfortunately we know very little about this. >> the parent is flying by the seat of their pants in doing this. ♪ you are the world to me >> reporter: call him crazy, unethical, this father heard it all except for one phrase. >> all i want is my son to say i love you, dad. can you say i love you? that's all i want to hear. i'm really close.

>> reporter: close to final hi reaching his son. >> washington state has a first in history moment today with the recreational use of marijuana going in to effect and also marking another first. ♪ you are my sunshine, my only sunshine ♪

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and talk to unitedhealthcare about our plans, like aarp medicarecomplete. let's get you on the right path. call today. ♪ the duchess of cambridge is home after being hospitalized for acute morning sickness. you can see here prince william escorted his wife out of the hospital in london. she spent three days there. officials say she is not yet 12 weeks pregnant and not announcing the due date yet of the baby but prince charles says he is thrilled about becoming a grandfather. good for them. and the nominees are -- the black keys, jay-z and frank ocean with six grammy nominations. the contenders announced last night at a star-studded concert hosted by ll cool j and